Alto resident to chair state Republican Party

The chair of the Lincoln County Republican Party was selected over the weekend to lead the GOP in New Mexico. John Billingsley of Alto was elected to the chair position at the State Central Committee Meeting in Albuquerque.

"I am thankful for this opportunity to expand my role in serving the Republican Party," Billingsley said. "I look forward to the upcoming year, while focusing on party building, the upcoming legislative session, and gearing up for the 2014 election."

Billingsley received 245 votes out of 356 to move from the first vice chair position the past two years to chair. He replaces former Hobbs Mayor Monty Newman.

"I am extremely grateful to former Chairman Monty Newman," Billingsley said. "In his time as chairman he served tirelessly, wisely and actively, and I thank him for that."

On Nov. 21 Billingsley wrote an opinion column where he said the Republican Party "frankly got wiped out" in the Nov. 6 general election.

"As with any party that loses in an election, we must do some soul searching and correct our mistakes if we are to advance our party's agenda," Billingsley wrote. "As a long-time conservative and Republican activist, I believe our party must return to the lead role in grassroots, candidate recruitment, messaging and fundraising. For too long the party has adopted a top-down approach when it comes to communicating our message and values to voters.

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While stating multi-million dollar TV campaigns go a long way, Billingsley said the campaigns do not take the place of direct engagements and civil conversations.

"I envision a state Republican Part that encourages county organizations to develop innovative outreach efforts that work best for their communities and a party that does not wait until an election to get involved with business groups, churches, charities and neighborhood organizations where people who agree with us on the issues exist. In other words, we shouldn't be building coalitions only to abandon them right after the election and then seek to rebuild them in the next election cycle."

A retired business owner, Billingsley has served several terms as the chair of the Lincoln County Republican Party and has a long history in New Mexico politics. In 2008 he served as campaign manager for Steve Pearce's unsuccessful U.S. Senate campaign.